Louis Lautier

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Washington correspondent for African-American newspapers, Louis Lautier, not only reported for major Washington African-American newspapers, but he also made a difference in history.

Lautier started his career with an education from Howard Law School in Washington D.C. He landed his first job in 1923 at Atlanta Independent, but after the paper failed he became a freelance journalist. During this time he worked as a legal stenographer for the Justice Department, while reporting on Washington for several African-American newspapers during the time of the New Deal.

During World War II, Lautier decided he wanted to help end segregation, so he became a Washington correspondent for the National Negro Publisher’s Association, covering Presidential press conferences at the White House. Because of his stenographic skills, other White House reporters would check with Lautier on the accuracy of their quotes. Due to his outstanding work, Lautier was soon appointed head of the National Negro Publisher’s Association.

In 1947, Lautier’s dream of integration in House and Senate press galleries was achieved due to him pushing for integration. The Senate Rules Committee ordered the standing Committee of Correspondents to admit Lautier to the congressional press galleries, making him the first African-American to sit in the press galleries since Fredrick Douglass. During this time he also worked as a correspondent for the Atlanta Daily Word. A few years later, he became the first African-American member of the National Press Club. He wrote about the outrages of segregation and spoke out for school integration.

Louis Lautier is someone worth remembering. He used his skills and passions as a journalist to make a stand for what he believed in. He pushed for integration, and that’s what he achieved. Others working around him looked up to him, which says a lot considering the discrimination of his time. I hope one day I can make an impact with my career like Louis Lautier did.

Sources for info: "NMAH | Archives Center | Portraits of a City: The Scurlock Photographic Studio." NMAH | Archives Center | Portraits of a City: The Scurlock Photographic Studio. National Museum of American History, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.

Ritchie, Donald A. American Journalists: Getting the Story. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. Print.